Sunday, 14 December 2008 Brooks/Gatorade Race 2Due to the heavy rain in the previous 48 hours, the swim was replaced by a run. The first time in the history of the series that two races have had swims cancelled.

Julie's comments. (Note "sharks!")I was quite happy with my results at Glenelg on the weekend coming in 5th out of 18 competitors – I’ve never done an Australian race with that number participating in my age group before! Looks like they’re coming out of the woodwork for the World Champs at the Gold Coast!I was 3rd on the swim which also included the time in & out of transition. The swim course was finally a rectangle after changes in options from an ‘M’ shaped course to an ‘A’ to ‘B’. The word was, they were chasing some sighted sharks off-shore on Saturday and during the swim on Sunday we had a Westpac surf rescue chopper hovering over us. On Saturday the surf was up with very strong winds but luckily the next day the water was reasonably flat but with a strong head-on current for the return leg.The lead girl swam 29:41 and second was 32:29. As you can see from my placings, I gradually dropped back as the race progressed! I was struggling a bit with a re-infection in my upper jaw and was dosed up on Nurofen which made me feel nauseous – the timing of this painful swelling was not good!Julie is definitely in contention for the Worlds. Go Jules!

"My time was not quite as good as last year - perhaps because of the rain and strong, cold winds!" Very probably - 9.5 degrees and gusts to 72kph!

Sunday, 16 November 2008 Shepparton Half IronmanMichael Bohnke, 5:04:35, 33rd M40-44, 36:16-2:45:54-1:42:23Had a good race on Sunday at least and no problems after my recent injury so full speed ahead for Port Macquarie now!

Phil Caligiuri, 5:56:42, 52nd M45-49, 51:20-2:59:25-2:05:55Had a hell of a time first to find I had a flat in the bike compound, then in the swim found it very difficult to breathe and the 300 metre mark a life jacket was thrown out to me which in turn cost me a few mins, I was coming last but at the last 400 metres I saw two competitors and caught them.My Bike leg was my best by far 2.51 on the bike computer very windy really had to work most of it.I would of liked to of pressed the run a bit more but had a bit of pain in the lower back and feared I would not finish at times but it eased off after the first lap and I started passing more than being passed all in all I had great fun and surprisingly I only fall over when I try to walk.By the way my blood type used to be O positive but now I sure it has changed to citrus gel negative.

I was really happy with my run - I ran faster than I usually do in training, which I wasn't expecting! It was a great introduction to season 08/09!. Paul Visentini (our club physio) was also very impressed and said "She is a great example of how we can 'change a body'! Very satisfying if we can get her through a season of racing." Well done Kath (and Paul!).

Swim could have been long, bike 9 x 180 deg turn arounds and some nasty corners.

Solid swim (9th) and bike (5th), average run (15th) - achilles OK but not enough core strength (and base) to run fast I think.

Not bad for a race in the middle of his preparation period.

Sunday, 12 October 2008 Melbourne Marathon Festival10kJanet Miller: 49:46. 3rd F50-54 A fantastic effort by Janet (50-55) who has not actually broken 60 minutes before although her Ironman run times suggest she would have PB'ed around 56 minutes. Her attendance at the regular Wednesday run sessions has really paid off big time.Michelle LeCornu*: 58:00. A good effort by Michelle. Looks like she needs to step up to OD triathlons this season!

21.1kKarl Augustin: 1:32:18. Not quite as fast as he'd hoped but he did trash his legs the day before on the ride back from Werribee South.Marie Maguire: 1:49:12 4th F55-59. No wonder Marie does so well in the Gatorade series.Julie King: 1:59:08. Julie was going to do this as a long run, but given that she negative split the second half into the head wind, the killer instinct that got her to the Worlds must've taken over!Stephen Gowers: 2:00:16. Stephen did this as an easy run.Josie Gioffre: 2:00:22! Another 6 minute PB. Josie says she "was very pleased with that"!Mandy Newman: 2:01:14. Mandy was frustrated by the crowds, but enjoyed the change of scenery for her long runMary Psaila: 2:09:48. The half-marathon bug's well and truly bitten Mary now. Go Mary!Sandra Buth DNF

MarathonAaron Heaney, 3:17:28, 65th M35-39

Michael Bohnke: 3:19. Michael's prep was interrupted due to a bad back but still felt he could run a good race on the day. Given he ran 3:03 12 months ago with a good back, I reckon he did pretty good.Rob Scapin: 4:04. Rob's marathon debut. Good on you.Daniel Moloney: 4:28. Daniel hates running and only 6 months ago couldn't run 10k. A great effort, Daniel. Watch out Gatorade.

Aaron Heaney, 108th MOP1, 16000 XC, 1:02:07. In 2007 Aaron finished 100th in 62:18. Given that Aaron had pneumonia in the week leading up to this race, to take 11 seconds off his time from last year is a great effort!

Julie King: Placed 22 out of 71 in her age group (and was the first Aussie in my age Group). Swim was altered 1100m and cancelled the swim after our wave due to rough conditions!Rob Rauling's detailed account of his race was great and I can only concur with much of what he has said re: weather, organization, state of play on the course etc. Luckily I didn't experience the cold rain but got a choppy, cold swim out of it all! The space blankets & hot soup were most welcome at the finish line.

Jeff Beavis: The race degenerated into a Duathlon in what could only be described as average Melbourne water conditions. That took out what I feel in my strongest leg.That said did 2:01:02.84 which was fairly happy with, ride about 1:08 and 2nd run around 42 high/ 43 low have found my exact splits yet. Both these times are right up there with my best times so am reasonably happy with them. That finished my 69th this year 30 places better than last year in same age group and with more people behind me so that is a real positive.

Rob Raulings: Epic race. Very bittersweet.Trained my arse off for this and thought I had potential to do well, just not sure how well ...Race day fn cold again, 7C air, 11C water. Up at 5am get down to transition and put the gear in, pump the tires on the bike. Ran back to check junior female race start to make sure I had the measure of the procedure. Course starts on the beach in a line and heads pretty hard right, so pays to be in the first few through the entry check in to get possibly up to 50m advantage on the start line. Retreat to hotel room and perform a warmup to AC/DC on the iPod.Luckily in my previous life as a cross country skiier I had plenty of experience in racing in miserable conditions - it wasn't actually sleeting so I figured it couldn't be that bad! Leave hotel at the latest possible time with race clothing of race singlet under 2 tri suites, plus wetsuit half on and jog to race start tent. Keep jogging on spot in race tent, forgo warmup swim (good decision), realise guys are entering the chute for the start procedure, shit myself and sprint to get in there. Spend 10 minutes waiting in the chute, noticing how the GB'ers seem to favour oversize swim masks that must have the drag of an anchor while racing, not to mention make them look really stoopid. Glad to be living on a large, relatively warm island, amongst a nation of swimmers.Get through the chute - see name on screen and run down to the start line on the beach - top 6 or 8 guys at the favored end of the course. Dip hands and face into water and hope this suffices to stop shock. Try to stay calm.Luckily I'd watched earlier waves and the lack of a hooter or horn was evident, some people had been missing the start, there were marshalls standing behind us with red flags raised for the start. Stand watching the marshall over my shoulder to make sure I get some cue to go. Hear something, take 3 steps and a racing dive and go. Swim a bit straight to find clean water and immediately have someone swim over my legs, turn a bit more right and try to ease into the swim thinking cool, calm thoughts while every pore screams murder at the sudden assault of the cold and shuts down. Someone goes out hard and I immediately respond before thinking Oops can I do this pace? Back off just a little but maintain speed. Guys start falling off left and right, 2 guys ahead, 1 to the side. Get round first bouy and find a lane rope pointing off in the direction of bouy 2. Get on it and get into a better rythym, trying to keep breathing calm and stroke strong. Fk, it's cold. Still in touch with the top 2 guys - realise I'm at the front of the swim pack at the worlds and feel pretty good about it. When will this frikking swim end? Supposed to be 750m, must seriously be over 1km (Edit: Google maps says 1.05km) Get another bouy down, still few to go, about 40m behind leader and 20m behind second. Finally hit the beach and manage to stand up - dizzy as buggery and unco as well. 3rd out of the water in 16:46, 51 sec down on the leader, and 4th right on my shoulder. 16:46 for 750m? Gotta be joking - I'd swum 10:25 last Aussi season for 750, and wasn't growing barnacles out there.Get through transition some how with out falling over - grass is sodden and very slippery. Awesome Aussi support once people can see your race suit - even get some first name calls from a few people, can't see anyone, just keep going hard trying to get brain unfrozen. On bike and get into variable pacing strategy my coach had worked out for me. Because of the hills in the course (including 1.2 km of 4.5% uphill) it is faster to vary effort to apply more power to the hills and less on the downhills. The plan was breaking the course into 6 sections with different watts for each section ranging from a pretty easy 170w to a more nasty 270w climbing. Had painstakingly inscribed this onto the face of the Ergomo with a fine tipped permanent marker. The variable pace plan was 59 seconds faster than riding the course with constant power output, but if you go too hard and blow, well, thanks for coming.Warm up a bit on the first climb, and get through the rough as guts sections as well. The disc is singing the sweet song of speed on the downhills, and doesn't feel that bad on the ups - I was riding one of the few discs - most people opt for deep rim or even shallow rim wheelsets - I guess the size of the climb freaked them out, even though 75% of the course was flat or downhill. Swoop down the hill passing everyone in site, and line up for lap 2 - when I hear wap, wap, wap coming from the machine. Look down, realise tape covering the valve hole had come unstuck from the wetness, and was making me look like a complete n00bie. Determined not to tarnish the team image of beer and vegemite swilling tri freaks, I wait till the top of the small climb, stop and yank the tape off. Get going again, but 15 seconds lost.Feel a bit warmer on the second lap, and get higher power out during the climb. Descend like a madman, at over 60kmh, gaining valuable time, and starting to really enjoy proceedings. Approaching the base of the descent, legs pumping in my best Tor Hushovd impersonation to blast by some pommie when the dreaded sound every cyclist fears occurs - pssschht! God, please let it be the other guy. Keep going with the power down and everything still feels OK, maybe it was the other guy, make it round the corner and realise the front has detonated and is going down. Faark! Currently in third, 44 mins in, 6.8km to go on bike, 1:34 down on the leader, with chasers closing hard and no spare (if you have to change a spare in a Sprint race you're done anyway - even if I had a spare, my hands were so cold it would have taken a week to change it). Luckily I'd put goo in the tubby, and it wasn't totally flat, just about 40 psi. Almost have a hissy fit as I realise that something you work so hard for more than 8 months might not go the way you want. Get over that 3 seconds later and decide to go for it anyway. Get the weight off the back to lighten the pressure on the front and gingerly nurse it through several turns, no real turning ability at all. Bottom out the front rim on several bumps and begin to worry about descending. Climb the big hill for the last time, power is OK, and speed is not too bad. Hopefully not loosing too much time. Big breath time for the downhill - turns out not too bad - can roll with weight off the front and take a sweeping, slow flowing line - actually descend at about 50kmh keeping pace with a few pommies - they need to HTFU. Make it to dismount line with great relief, legs not feeling too bad either. 1st 2 laps 12:48 (cold!) and 12:10, slowing to 14:06 with the flat, 1:54 slower for nursing the bike round the last lap, but power only a tad lower.Head into transition, try to get shoes on, actually get helmet off (which is a relief seeing junior girls couldn't) and head out on the run. Legs feel great, but arms are soooo cold. Settle in to nice pace and form and get the pain flowing. Passed by a Scot at warp speed, keep looking for Michael Pratt AUS to come storming by. Great support from Aussies and others, final turn around appears, 1.2 km to go and no-one behind that looks fast - maybe I can do well in spite of the flat. Keep the hammer down on the long downhill to the finish, manage to grab an Aussie flag before the finish chute and hold it aloft in a frozen claw, so, so happy to have made it over the line.Run not a PB, but fast enough to hold on to 9th, 5:33 down on Aussie Richard Woods who takes the title with a +2:56 margin over Simon Gowen (GBR) and Frank Boyne (GBR) +3:58 in third. Realise that the 1:54 deficit on lap 3 on the bike would have put me +3:39 behind the winner and into third place by a comfortable 19 seconds. Aaargh. Our 4th 40-44 member, Brett Starkey finishes 16th about +8:19 down on Woods. My time of 1:19:44 is the slowest sprint race time I've posted for about 4 years, but the easily the most satisfying, under the worst conditions.

Michael Pratt DNFs on the run for some reason, and a glorious Aussie 1,2,3 is twice denied.Sitting in the recovery tent, sipping hot soup and wrapped in a space blanket all I can think about is what might have been, the Gold Coast in 09, and how nice it will be to be warm. Game on!

Saturday, 17 May 2008 AV Sandown 10k RoadAaron Heaney 131st MOP4, 10000 35:28. Aaron added another PB to his 2008 list with this on the Sandown race track even though he was sick leading up to it. Good work!

Saturday, 10 May 2008 Northern Metro Little Aths XCSam Wenban, 5th, Boys U11, 2000m 8:28.32. A drop back in the placings but a 4 second improvement in time.

Aaron Heaney 6000m 21:38 - 19 seconds faster than over the same course last year.

Sunday, 6 April 2008 Ironman AustraliaJamie Morgan 11:47 hrs.We all knew Jamie would not be repeating his Busselton 9:56 hr as his body hadn't fully recovered before he was heading toward Port MacQ however severe stomach problems were not envisaged!Gary Blake 13:35 hrIn the tough conditions on the day this was probably equal to Gary's 13:05 hr 2007 result. The good and the bad of Gary's experience was a severe asthma attack that had him coughing blood on Friday and a run that was not going well until he remembered to forget time and focus on technique which led him to drop from 8 min/km pace to 6 min pace over the last 10.2k and run into an excellent 5th place.

In Nerissa's own words:"Happy with my results except for the swim as there was this stupid rip thing at the end and I went no where!! Anyway thanks Tony it was a great to get back into shape in the last 8 weeks and to do all those short races which I have never done before and to see yesterday that my heart is still with ironman."

Sunday, 30 March 2008 Run for the KidsResults are incomplete, more to come...

14.14kmAaron Heaney 101st 53:46. Just missed out on top 100!Julie King 6120th 1:20:04Daniel Moloney 3934th 1:13:95

5.76kmSam Wenban 743rd, 32:20 Sam is just 11yo

Sunday, 30 March 2008 Gatorade TriathlonSt Kilda, 750-20-5km

Rob Raulings, 1:08:03 8th M35-39, 11:36-1:38-31:10-1:36-22:00 Rob had the 5th fastest swim and 4th fastest ride in his categoryMark Travill, 1:10:35 3rd M50-54, 12:19-1:16-34:05-1:42-21:10 Mark finished the season with the fastest swim in his category, a podium for race 6 and 2nd in the series. Well done!Jarratt Morgan, 1:11:44 22nd M25-29, 12:49-1:37-33:26-1:21-22:28. This was a good result for a sick man in a strong age group.Michael Bohnke, 1:12:27 6th M40-44, 16:03-1:23-33:24-1:22-20:13. Michael has always been a strong runner but has improved 2 places in the run leg to have the 5th fastest run after a one-on-one with Tony. Good work!Jeff Beavis, 1:12:30 7th M40-44, 13:28-1:24-34:23-1:31-21:41. Jeff consistently placed top 10 across all legs - no wonder he's heading to Vancouver.Christopher O'Donnell, 1:13:58 34th M35-39, 13:16-2:02-36:08-1:37-20:52Darren Schonewille, 1:15:25 41st M30-34, 15:30-1:41-34:14-1:28-22:29Mike Wilson (swim & ride) & Simon Watson (run), 1:16:26 4th M Teams, 15:39-1:39-38:06-1:43-19:17. This was 3rd in the swim & run and 4th in the bike.Hayden Marshall, 1:19:47 49th M25-29, 13:37-2:33-38:58-1:34-23:02Alison Travill, 1:20:42 4th F15-19, 12:34-1:22-40:06-2:04-24:33. Ali had the 4th fastest bike and 5th fastest swim.Pip Hodgetts, 1:20:57 5th F15-19, 12:27-1:19-42:14-1:57-22:59. Pip was 3rd out of the water and the 2nd fastest run split.Phil Caligiuri, 1:28:15 45th M40-44, 19:55-2:33-37:06-2:38-26:00Katie Anderson (swim & ride) & Lisa Williams (run) 1:28:47 3rd F Teams, 15:29-2:16-43:20-2:15-25:24. Katie fought off most of the jellyfish to get 2nd in the swim and Lisa carried on the good work with a 3rd in the run.Marie Maguire 1:32:14 2nd F55-59, 18:16-1:30-44:27-2:26-25:33. Marie had the fastest run split, placed 2nd in the race and 2nd for the season. Well done!Kellie Whitefield* 1:36:04 27th F35-39, 19:18-2:31-45:14-1:56-27:02

Sunday, 16 March 2008 Orbea Race 4, Brighton16/3/08750-20-5

Rob Raulings, 1:07:31 7th M35-39, 10:56.1-1:06.8-32:00.5-1:25.6-22:02.4Rob had the 7th fastest swim of the day even after "navigating like a duck" (his words). Apparently the big yellow buoy he was heading towards was actually a big yellow lifesaver (don't know if he was a boy).

The Ascot Vale Leisure Centre and Athletics Essendon squads got together for our annual end-of-season team event. The teams were handicapped so they should finish together. There were some great performances.

Saturday, 23 February 2008 Australian Sprint Champs 750-20-5Rob Raulings 13th (out of 55) M35-39 1:08:49, 11:08-34:21-23:19Rob had the 5th fastest swim in his age group. Must be all that butterfly! He finished 57th out of 475 and thinks he's made the Australian Sprint Team

Friday, 22 February 2008 2008 OD World Championship TeamJeff Beavis has made the Australian OD Team to Vancouver in early June. Jeff says:Had a great race in Hobart, water was cold and the hill got steeper with each lap but was overall very happy with 2.24. 2nd best time for an Olympic Distance and got me 10th in age group and good points.

As a result I have been offered and accepted a place for Vancouver in early June. I needed to prove that last years effort wasn’t a fluke and that I did actually deserve to be there.

Sunday, 17 February 2008 Hobart Triathlon International Jeff Beavis: 1.5-40-10 - 2:24:56, 10th M40-44 (out of 17), the only split available is for the swim: 25:11, which was the 10th fastest. Well done Jeff. What a way to spend your birthday!

Sunday, 17 February 2008 Gatorade Race 5, Elwood600-5-5.75

Mark Travill, 1:07:37, 2nd (out of 26) M50-54, 9:24-1:18-32:58-1:24-22:30 - Mark had the fastest swim and second fastest run in his category.Jarratt Morgan, 1:09:00, 15th (out of 91) M25-29, 10:16-1:29-31:30-1:57-23:45 - Jarratt had a bad day - someone moved his bike then he couldn't find his runnersMichael Bohnke, 1:09:20, 7th (out of 48) M40-44, 12:02-1:23-32:24-1:24-22:05 - Michael had the 5th fastest bike and run splits for his age group.Darren Schonewille, 1:12:59, 37th (out of 119) M30-34, 11:33-1:32-33:11-1:47-24:54. Good effort, backing up after Geelong last week.Karl Augustin, 1:13:28, 18th (out of 62) M45-49, 12:11-1:46-33:59-1:52-23:37. PB for the run for Karl, even allowing for the run being 250m short of 6k. Turning 50 hasn't hurt him!Pip Hodgetts, 1:19:41, 5th (out of 11) F15-19, 10:13-1:37-40:07-1:35-26:06. Pip's results are getting better and better every time. Well done!Ali Travill, 1:22:27, 8th (out of 11) F15-19, 10:04-1:34-40:18-1:42-28:47. Ali had the 4th fastest swim split in her age group.Stephen Gowers, 1:26:55, 49th (out of 62) M45-49, 11:41-2:44-38:54-2:10-31:24. Stephen came in a couple of minutes quicker than predicted (even allowing for the short run). Well done!Marie Maguire, 1:28:00, 2nd (out of 4) F55-59, 14:18-1:52-41:44-2:01-28:03. Podium! Well done!Kellie Whitefield, 1:29:58, 26th (out of 37) F35-39, 13:42-2:44-42:26-1:33-29:30. Good work Kellie.

In his words: That point to point swim was bad for me - couldn't breath properly in my now old wetsuit. Would have probably swum a minute or two faster with this new rocket suit (has a propeller on the back).

Friday, 4 January 2008 Mountain to SurfAaron Heaney, 8.5k 29:22, 26th out of 261 in Open Men.

However, we think Aaron's been robbed. Last year he competed in the Senior Men, and unless he's gotten younger, should've been in that age group this year. His time would have given him 4th in the Senior Men.